The owners of Agadir Land and Agadir Camp tourism complex projects announced on Monday in Agadir, that they will temporarily suspend construction on the two development projects.

During a press conference held Monday, Abdelaziz Houays, CEO of both Agadir Land and Agadir Camp, clarified that the suspension of the two projects, which are expected to rejuvenate tourism in the city, was “temporary” and “not a complete discard.”

The construction works’ suspension comes after the Agadir’ Urban Agency (AUA) released a notice stating that the site on which the projects were to be built is under threat of a high seismic risk.

The AUA’s report came concurrently with the Commission for Major Projects’ (CGP) refusal to grant the Agadir Land project the planning permission, saying that the construction site was a restricted forest zone.

The projects’ owners stressed during Monday’s press conference that their proposals for the projects had in February 2016 received the endorsement of many commissions, , including the agreement of Agadir’s Regional Investment Commission, the agreement of the commission responsible of town planning derogation, and the agreement of the Agadir Municipal Council.

The contracts for the lease of the state’s land were also signed and the royalty payments were in order. In addition, the projects owners have indicated, using a map of the Master Plan for Urban Development, that the chosen field does not fall into a restricted forest area, contrary to what the report of the Commission for Major Projects, and that it does not interfere with the railway tracks that link Agadir’s port to other Moroccan cities.

The Wilaya of the Souss-Massa region announced in a statement at the press conference that it is carrying out a study on alternative sites that could accommodate the two projects.

For Abdelaziz Houays, however, the option of relocating the projects is inconceivable, as Agadir contains only two sites with the necessary site to install a cable car, an essential element of the project.Agadir Land was planned over an area of approximately 20 hectares for an overall cost of more than 330 million dirhams. The project was to include an amusement and recreation park, an aqua park, dry play area, a dolphinarium, a ladies club, a natural park, an outdoors theater, a 7D cinema, a labyrinth, and a giant chess board, as well as cafes, restaurants, and other facilities.

Agadir Camp was first announced as the southern Moroccan tourism complex of the century, a campsite of international standards with 1,900 bends, 624 caravan parking spaces, and bringing in 1,000 jobs.

Source :Morocco World News